Life and vital force that flows in the universe have the most value for the Macua people. Individuals and communities have the aim to strengthen and guarantee life and its transmission. For this reason, for example,  sterile people are not accepted  because it is believed that they retain, almost selfishly, the life that was given to them and they do not transmit it through procreation, as if they prevented its natural flow.

Living is above all “growing with” , that is self  improvement by relating with nature, with the community and with God. People grow IN and FOR the community and the individuals and their individuality are strengthened as much as they take part in and contribute to the life of the community. Therefore, there is no cancellation of the individuality, but a different view of it, of how it is formed and strengthened. A whole series of proverbs show their perception of life: “one hand alone cannot wash itself”, “one person alone does not build a house,” “a rooster does not have balance on one leg”, “an arm alone does not work the field. ”

In the Macua cosmovision there is no division between sacred and profane, between the world and God / the divine, between natural and artificial, nor between people and nature. The divine and the supernatural are everywhere, living with and in the natural and human world, interacting with it and influencing it at all time. The spirits of the ancestors are always present, always careful about what happens to their descendants: they protect them and guide them and communicate with them through dreams and visions, taking the form of animals (especially snakes), possessing some of them, or through a whole series of signals (generally unusual events).

THE MACUA – RITES OF PASSAGE: THE BIRTH

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